Last stand
by guyho11
Summary: Kingdom is one of the best manga out there and since i have read it, it is stuck in my mind. So i have written a short fiction for the ending of shin's story. Please give it a read and i hope you enjoy it. Thanks P.s sorry for any mistakes that are left in there after proofreading.


Last stand

After a long hard fought battle that lasted for 4 days without break, Both the armies were reduced to 2 men, One foot soldier, Shin of the Qin army which was putting defence against the invading Zhou and the commanding general of the Zhou, Riboku of the Three Great Heavens.

Riboku covered in blood and sweat, one ear gone, probably cut off by an arrow. His legs were numb and he stood by the support of his glaive. He was breathing heavily and his body was so heavy from the wounds and exhaustion that he could feel the weight of the air on his shoulder. But he had a nasty grin on his face and was really curious to know, why a worthless, brave but worthless none the less, foot soldier was still wielding a sword while having a broken arm, a broken nose, both eyes hammered black and deep cuts on his left thigh and right side of his abdomen so deep that it reached to his bone. After catching a little breath Riboku finally mustered the strength to ask,'' You insolent fool! Why are you still pointing that sword at me when even your general is buried in that mountain of corpse''. Riboku Pointed at the hill formed of corpses of the soldiers and horses from both the sides. The battle had been a short one, Lasting only 2 weeks and till the 9th day only little time was spent fighting, the armies were rather busy in fortification but after the 9th day, fierce battle started and each day thousands and thousands were added to the mountains of corpses which now stood before them with the Qin general as the latest addition and the last one too, after that the Qin army broke down, the thieves and the sell swords, which were the major part of the army ran away. The few remaining loyal ones were killed off but they put up an uncanny resistance and at the end both the forces were reduced to dust.

When Riboku did not receive an answer, his grin disappeared and he was in no mood for wordplay anymore. He saw a spear lying beside him. He picked it up but to his broken body it felt like picking up a war hammer. He somehow managed to get in the proper stance, his arms felt like they will crumble at any moment. His glaive gave him support like a third leg and with all the strength that was left in him; he threw the spear at shin.

All this while, Shin had been watching Riboku with a grim face, his sword pointing at him. At this point his head was ringing from the impact of an iron shield that he received from his last opponent. Shin knew he was on his last legs and the next breath he drew could be his next last one. He also knew this that he was the last person standing between the invaders and the kingdom that he swore to protect till his last and protect it, is what he will do. He was not remembering the life he has lived or the regrets he has or the wife that is waiting for him, only thing that he had in his mind at that moment was the face which was full of trust for him, the king of Qin, his best friend had shown him. He knew that this is his last stand and everything is about to end in a moment of seconds. As the spear left Riboku's hand, to Shin everything turned into slow motion. He was struck with sudden fear making him numb all over.

He feared not for his life but for his king, for his kingdom. Tears were welling up his eyes; the spear was approaching him and was about a foot away from him. Shin realised it a little too late and in a heartbeat the spear pierced his abdomen and went in deep. Shin felt the pain running from his abdomen to his head. He felt the blood running down his leg but his teary eyes were still watching Riboku and his hand was still holding the sword. Everything began to fade…

Riboku was grinning again; he knew that had won when he saw the Zhou reinforcement flags coming towards them in the distance. Now he let go of his glaive and finally fell towards the ground and was losing his consciousness when he saw with his closing eyes that shin was still standing, staring coldly at him. Riboku smiled realising he has witnessed a man so fierce and strong willed that even death could not bring him down. Riboku also felt sad that he could not see him develop anymore. At the end of the final day of the war one man stood tall, though Zhou had won but Qin had the last man standing with the pride of his kingdom on his back.

When Riboku regained consciousness he found himself in a bed inside a tent, He tried to sit up but found himself unable to command his body. The commander in chief came to check up on him and told Riboku what happened after the battle. How they had found him and believed him to be dead and the man standing in front of him with a spear in his abdomen was the last man standing but was shocked to that actually the situation was in reverse.

Riboku was shocked to find that the king of Qin had given up the part of the land where the battle took place on the condition that they allow Qin to take that worthless soldier Shin of the HI SHIN UNIT, that Riboku had killed. The King of Qin had said,'' this soldier has all the honour and pride of our kingdom on him and the brave soldiers that died with him. Leaving him would be a disgrace to my Kingdom and its people''.

Later Riboku found out that the soldier was buried in his home town with a huge palace built around it. Riboku was sad at this, as to him it all seemed to dishonour that soldier… not only him but every single person that gave his life in the battle. To Riboku it seemed that their effort was declared worthless when king of Qin gave up the land they died to protect. Riboku was a soldier too and he knew that a soldier would happily rot on the battlefield than have a palace erected in his name as long as what he tried to protect was protected. Riboku sat down with a wine in his hand and sad smile on his face, he looked up at the sky and said, '' perhaps the wrong person died that day…''


End file.
